The rain let up sometime overnight. I was cheered by the bright sunlight streaming through my bedroom window. It was a lovely day for a wedding.
The ceremony was scheduled for three o’clock, which meant we’d decorate the church and drop off the bouquets and corsages between noon and one. We didn’t want to arrive too early and risk the flowers wilting, even a tiny bit. From there, we would leave to decorate the reception room at the church hall next door. When the wedding guests transitioned to the reception, we’d return to the church to retrieve our flower arch. The other decorations would stay for Nell to do with as she pleased.
Though we still had at least an hour of work at the shop, to complete the bows and pack up our vehicles, I wasn’t in a rush. I allowed myself to sleep in and take my time getting ready. I wanted to dress up a little, not because I had to, but because I felt like it. After my shower, I blow-dried my short hair and applied a touch of natural makeup. Then I slipped on a cute short dress (in poppy red!) and silver ballet flats. I finished off the look with an embroidered cross-body purse with a bold flower design. I was determined to bring the fun today, come what may.
It wasn’t that I was ignoring my dad’s advice. He’d given me the name of a lawyer he knew, and I put her number in my phone. However, I didn’t feel the need to make the call unless (or until) I heard from the police myself. After all, who knew if they would even contact me? Anything could happen. The cops could get busy with other cases. Or they could catch the actual murderer. Now there was a novel idea.
I dropped off Gus with Rocky and arrived at Flower House in good spirits. As Deena, Calvin, and I got busy with our big job, I could almost forget the terrible accusations that had been hurled in my direction.
Almost.
Not quite.
I might have been a little jumpy.
As I filled the flower-girl basket with fresh rose petals, I bounced from foot to foot. As I stuck floral tubes of water onto the ends of freshly cut stems for the pew bows, I managed to stab my own hand a time or two. And when the front door jingled open, I nearly fainted from fright—until I saw that it was Nell, stopping in to check on us on her way to the church.
I plastered on a smile and assured her all was well. And I pretty much kept telling myself that as we loaded the car, traveled to the church (a five-minute drive, natch), and adorned the center aisle.
Assembling the arch at the entrance to the aisle took all three of us—especially with my divided attention. In the midst of weaving greenery and blossoms through the metal arbor, I couldn’t stop glancing out the open front doors. At any moment, I expected to see a man or woman in blue, badge out and handcuffs gleaming.
Regardless of my nerves, our efforts were rewarded. The flowers were gorgeous, and we received tons of compliments.
As I pinned Nell’s corsage onto her dress, she gushed at the wonderful job we’d done. “I’ll tell everybody I know: Flower House is the place to go for wedding flowers.”
“Thanks, Nell. I appreciate that.”
The door to the vestibule swung open, giving me yet another mini-panic attack. The thought of being approached by the law in front of Nell was almost worse than the thought of being arrested at all.
It was only Deena, thank goodness. She held up her camera. “I got lots of great shots for our website.”
“Wonderful,” said Nell. “I can’t wait to see them.”
The afternoon passed quickly. After decorating the reception room, with centerpieces on each guest table and garland across the head table, Calvin and I headed back to the church. Deena stayed behind to take more pictures.
Guests were trickling out of the church and across the lawn. The bride and groom stood in a receiving line at the bottom of the church steps. They’d had their professional photos taken prior to the ceremony but still mugged for anyone and everyone with a phone camera. I paused on the fringe of the lawn to admire the young couple.
“They look so happy,” I said, with a sigh.
Calvin touched his chin and tilted his head. “They look a little shell-shocked, if you ask me.”
“Hey,” I said playfully, elbowing him in the side. “Where’s your sense of romance? Don’t you think they look sweet, all fresh-faced and dolled up? They’re like a princess and prince.”
He eyed me for a second, before saying, “Actually, you resemble a princess more than she does.”
I narrowed my eyes, in mock annoyance. I knew he was teasing me. Yet, I also detected a hint of appreciation in the look he gave me. I couldn’t keep a grin from forming on my lips. Honestly, Calvin looked more like a prince than the groom too—my kind of prince, with his sparkling blue eyes and laid-back style. He was particularly cute today, in dark blue jeans and a crisp white T-shirt beneath a lightweight blazer.
“You look nice. I like your dress,” Calvin added more seriously.
“Thanks.” I was somewhat surprised at his change of tone. Perhaps he was remembering all the friction and misunderstandings of the past few days. Being candid was always better.
We continued up the walkway toward a side door into the church. We’d gone only a few steps when I caught sight of a police car rounding a corner at the end of the block. It turned into the church parking lot.
“Oh no,” I said under my breath. “Couldn’t they have waited just a little bit longer?”
Calvin saw it too and grabbed my hand. “Come on!”
Together, we ran the rest of the way, slipping into the church undetected. The building wasn’t entirely empty. A few stragglers chatted in the pews or waited for a turn in the restroom.
“What are we going to do?” I whispered. “It’s going to take several minutes to take apart the flower arch. If the police come in the main entrance, they’ll see us for sure.” If the cops wanted to bring me in for questioning, I would of course cooperate—but I didn’t want it to happen here, at our first big wedding job. Besides, if I could buy just a little more time, maybe I could ferret out the real culprit. Call it a hunch, but I felt certain I was getting closer to the truth.
Calvin walked around the vestibule, opening doors and peeking inside. I thought he was looking for a hiding place, until he said, “What if we move the arch out of the way and come back for it later?”
“Good idea!”
The structure was unwieldy but not too heavy. Between the two of us, we managed to lean it over and haul it into a lounge area near the restrooms. We lost only a few petals and leaves along the way. I found a piece of paper and wrote “Property of Flower House. Hold for pick-up,” and stuck it on the front of the arch.
We returned to the side door and peeked outside. The challenge now was getting to our cars without being spotted. The coast was clear on the sidewalk, but when we neared the parking lot, we saw the police car, double-parked behind the first row of spaces. Two officers, including Dakin, were sauntering toward the lawn. We ducked behind an evergreen.
“Maybe I should go ahead and talk to them,” I said, with zero enthusiasm. Nell was nowhere in sight, but the bridal party was still in front of the church posing for pictures. The police were bound to attract attention.
Calvin threw his arm in front of me. “Wait a minute. Look.”
As we watched, Deena marched up to the police officers. She had an air of authority about her, which came as much from her confident pose as her appearance. Lovely as always, she looked exceptionally polished today, with her long sleek ponytail and tailored white pantsuit. We couldn’t hear her words, but we could see her wide smile and animated gestures.
A moment later, the officers tipped their hats at her and returned to their car. She waited until they drove away, before spinning on her heels and rushing toward the church. I stepped out from behind the tree and hollered.
“Deena! Over here!”
She halted and looked our way. Jogging over, she fluttered her hand to her chest. “Oh, Sierra, thank goodness! The police were just here.”
“I know. We saw them—and you. What did you say?”
“I asked if I could help them, and they said they were looking for you. I told them you’d finished your work here and had probably gone back to Flower House. Was that okay? I didn’t know what else to say.” She wrung her hands and glanced at the bridal party. “I didn’t want to lie, but I really didn’t know where you were, and I figured if you had stuck around, you’d be better off with them out of the way.”
I touched her arm. “You did great. That was perfect.”
“Yeah,” agreed Calvin. “There was no reason for the cops to come here anyway. It’s not like they couldn’t just call Sierra or find her at home.”
“That’s true.” I pulled my phone from my purse and confirmed that I had no missed calls.
“Now what?” said Deena. “They’ll be waiting at Flower House.”
Biting my lip, I gazed at the azure blue sky and thought for a moment. “I can’t avoid them forever. But … I was already planning to stop by Richard’s this afternoon.”
“Call him now,” urged Deena.
I nodded and placed the call. When he answered, I got straight to the point. “Hey, Richard. I’m just leaving Sue Ellen’s wedding and thought I’d drop by the B&B. Would that be okay?”
“Normally, it would be,” he said. “But I’m on my way out the door.”
“Oh,” I said, disappointed. “I was actually hoping to catch up with Vince, since he didn’t show up last night.”
“Sorry, friend. But he’s not here anyway. They all went to the fair. That’s where I’m headed now.”
“The fair, huh? Cool.” I told Richard I’d talk to him later and hung up.
Calvin and Deena had heard my side of the conversation.
“I haven’t been to the county fair in years,” said Deena.
“It sounds kind of fun,” said Calvin.
“What do you think?” asked Deena.
My mind weaved a myriad of possibilities. “I think … I’ll call Rocky and ask him to leave Gus with our mom.” I smiled at their bewildered expressions. “Then we can go on that double date we talked about.”